Declawing cats :: Should declawing cats be illegal?

All I can think of, is how painful it is to loose a fingernail, let alone getting it pulled out! OUCH...

I kmow that snakeowners declaw kitten and rabbits, before feeding them to their snakes, but other than that, I don't know why the f@ck somebody would like to declaw a cat!!! Saving furniture? Get a frigging cyberdog!

West Hollywood

Bigdice, Urs says you have a carpeted wall for your cats. Did you find a way to do this without marring the wall when you eventually remove the carpeting?

Everyone, please note that the link roger provided is a previous disscussion on this subject that I'd not been aware of. It already contains a lot of insightful viewpoints and had I known about that topic I'd not have posted mine.

Uh nooo, I actually screwed it too the wall, but when we leave this appartement, my landlord will repair the damage, he said. But I think we have saved a lot of walls here with that carpet...

Having raised and cared for cats and kittens for more than 30 years, I feel qualified to answer the declaw question with informed knowledge, not only through study and observation, but through the best learning tool life offers, experience! Claws are extremely important to a cat. Without even looking at the horrendous pain of the surgery, loss of protection, loss of natural daily functions, loss of natural balance, we are looking at a maiming, crippling procedure that simply has no place in a humane society. Declawing is best described as barbaric, and more than just a few civilized countries have passed laws banning this procedure. It is argued that it is better to declaw so as to keep a cat in it's home. this is far from the truth. Many more cats are "dumped " in shelters for behavior problems that were declawed than lose homes for lack of it! The damage from declaw include, often, lifetime sociological, physical and psychological damage resulting in behavior dysfunctions that may have no cure! People who feel they must "re-design" this animal to suit their lifestyle, knowing the pain, risks, and possible lifetime problems it incurs, simply have no business getting a cat!

Amen to that, catsangel!

BTW, welcome to a2k! Have fun while you're!

I know that cats are declawed somewhere sometime, but it seems quite wrong to me, however convenient for the cat owner. Maybe if you had a penthouse with a bunch of very chic kitties and no predators but humans about....and very expensive upholstery...I would understand doing it, but still wouldn't. Odd environment though, for both humans and cats. It is not really within my experience, really fine upholstery and very refined persian cats, or whatever.

I dunno, if that were the situation, do veterinarians anaesthetize the cats for the declawing?

Oooh, ick.
I think not.

Can you clip kitty nails?? Trying to picture this. Hit cat with brick..(sorry dlowan) and then file....

Put cat in sock, file paw...

We don't declaw corgies, do we? She says, redwood milled molded door owner, at front and back doors, molding in shreds as we speak.

My pet does not suffer alone much. He is with me 98% of the time. But in that two percent...

well, in that two percent, he mostly lays about sleeping. But when he hears my approach, THAT is when the door attack occurs.

Listen, I will just get new molding one day. Sigh.

But, I meant to add, the idea of carpet is interesting. A new look for my front hall. Glad I tuned in here, I might try that. I was thinking, vaguely, of galvanized steel plating, but have been reluctant, since I hate even the thought of nails on steel...

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Craven- I think that a law banning the declawing of cats would be far too much government intervention into areas that do not belong to the government. From a practical standpoint, I think a ban would find many more kittens left in pounds waiting to be killed or experimented on. Eventually, there would be far less cats, because a believe that a good percentage of people would not keep a cat with claws in their homes.

I understand the feelings of some people that declawing may be painful for the cat, at first. But I have seen too many homes that were ruined because of the claws of some overzealous cat.

The reality is that that some people love cats, but would not put up with having their furniture destroyed. My son adores cats, has three, and they are all declawed. IMO, they are none the worse for wear.

Years ago, I had a cat for a short time. He would wake me up, by jumping on me when I was sleeping, and tearing at my face with his claws. After a few days of this, and a bottle or two of iodine, I had to give him away. At the time I was young, and didn't really know about declawing. If I had, I probably would have kept the cat. Except for his peculiar habit, he WAS a sweetie!

When people domesticated animals, and took them into their homes as pets, there had to be some compromise, so that the two species could live together. Maybe declawing is not the best situation for the cat, but it sure beats scrounging around the streets for food!

Sorry, Phoenix, but I must disagree with you.
De-clawing cats is a very distressing thing to happen to them. A quite unnatural experience that is quite "uncat-like" ... I believe that if humans are to keep animals as pets we should respect what they ARE & teach them what's acceptable behavior & what isn't. That's often tedious to do. But cats are pretty smart. And they want a comfortable life. They learn. We learn, too.

msolga- I hear what you are saying, and on an emotional level I agree with you. On a practical level, I can't. Maybe I am someone who just should not have a cat!

Phoenix

No, If you love & respect the animal you SHOULD have a cat. It just requires both the cat/s & the human/s to adapt to their particular needs & the space that they live in. Example: Today it is hideously hot (42 C ) where I live. I've had to change my plans to look after 3 very heat-distressed cats. They hate this heat! (Me too!!!!) And one of them is quite sick & there's no way I could leave him on his own to cope. This reqires feeding him liquid regularly with a syringe. It's quite distressing, but I must stay & watch & do what is necessary.
This is not a chore. They give me back as much as I give them. They are a pleasure & delight, but 2 of them are quite old now. I simply want to treat them with the respect & care that they deserve.

It's not really hard to trim a cat's claws, osso. It's not much for either party, but it is doable, at least on the front paws which usually need it the most. All you're doing here is removing the needle sharp points. Outdoor cats usually get enough wear on the claws that they don't need trimming anyway.

I just had my cat declawed. Didn't have anything to do with the furniture though. The cat has been unable to retract it's vclaws since day 1. It's claws have always been fully extended and when it ran up and down the hallway chasing after the dog (playing..)and things it's claws would get caught in the carpet and the cat has flipped itself over more than once - a few times while running down the stairs.

It was either let the vet take them out or let the cat go on and eventually rip them out on it's own acidentally one at a time.

(The cat is a bit of a freak and has some other problems too but that's another story!)

Well, I think that I may have found a solution to the cat clawing problem. I spoke to my son, the "cat person" and he told me about this:


Link to "Soft Paws"

What do you think of this idea? I wonder if it comes in "French Nails"!

I tried those (in Red!) Phoenix! lol They are a bit of a pain to put on the cat but they do work for the most part. You have to trim their claws yourself every month or so when you put on new sets.

Goodness - I have no problem trimming my cats' claws! They do not like it - but they sit in tense, cross, impatience waiting for me to finish - and then go off and bite their nails in a most indignant fashion, whilst glaring at me.... very funny!

f
fishin'- It may be a pain in the butt, but I can see the wisdom in that sort of solution. Just at first glance, it appears to be "the best of all possible worlds" for both cat and cat owner!